


Arrival just a little too late

by PinkRambo



Category: Marvel
Genre: Angst, Dad!Steve, Dad!Tony, Fic based off art, I can't stress the major character death enough, I spent the last few pages of it crying to myself, M/M, Tony will protect his son no matter what, kid!Peter, this is not a happy fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:47:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27707140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PinkRambo/pseuds/PinkRambo
Summary: Based off a little 6 page comic of the Superfamily, but make it angst. Tony sacrifices everything to protect that which is most important to him.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 3
Kudos: 33





	Arrival just a little too late

He knew he shouldn’t have gone. Something had told him that shit was going to happen, but he had ignored it. He had trusted when Tony said everything would be fine. That he was staying back, and Steve would be back before he knew it. Steve swallowed hard as he made his way through the Tower. Tony hadn’t been in the upper workshop where he normally was. But that area had been a complete disaster, clearly whatever had been attacking the tower had taken out Jarvis first, and then assaulted the tower. Swallowing past the stress he felt, he could hear Natasha in his comms. 

“I repeat, Avengers Tower has been attacked-”

“Tasha, we can’t find Peter or Tony…” That was Clint’s voice. Something gripped Steve’s chest in a vice grip but when he looked down there was nothing. It was anxiety and terror that had him in its grip, and he kept walking slowly forward, cautious as he held his shield at the ready, helmet off, but ear piece still in. 

“-requesting back up, possible kidnapping-”

“Where’s Steve?” Noise filtered through again, and Steve knew that it was Sam. Steve kept descending the stairs, the ventilation system working hard to clear the smoke from the building. It didn’t take him longer than five cautious minutes, but it felt like much longer. The entire way down showed signs of a struggle, and he gripped the straps just a little tighter. 

_ “Cinderella, relax. Everything’s going to be fine. Go deal with Zemo, I’ve got some calibrations to do, so I can’t go anyway.” Tony grinned up at the blonde who was pacing and fretting in his workshop.  _

_ “Something doesn’t feel right. This isn’t normal mission anxiety, Tony, take this seriously.” Steve had almost growled before he had a small screwdriver pointed in his direction.  _

_ “Don’t you take that tone with me Rogers. I am taking this seriously. The suit’s not ready for combat yet, I’ve still got repairs to do. You’re taking most of the team with you, and I promised Pete that I’d help him with his homework. So go save the world, and come back, and then you can get Peter ready for school in the morning Super Dad. You know he prefers you taking him to school than me.” Tony had waved the screwdriver at him while he talked, and watched some of the tension dissolve from Steve’s shoulders, knowing he was right.  _

_ “Okay, fine. I’ll see you soon Tony.” Steve had strode towards Tony, leaning down and giving him a soft kiss on the lips before he went to go say good night to Peter. He would be back before dawn but well before Peter had gone to bed. _

The hidden workshop, where Tony kept all his dangerous experiments, was open and looked like it had taken the most amount of damage from the entire attack. Blue eyes looked over the workshop, seeing the Ironman armor standing there, with only the reactor faintly glowing. Steve swallowed, opening his mouth to call out, but he couldn’t get his voice to work. 

_ Access Granted: S.G. Rogers. _

Oh… that took a hot second to trigger… His eyes glanced around and as he stepped forward, cautious of another threat, he saw Tony laying on the floor. 

_Why isn’t he in the armor?_

He didn’t hear anyone coming in behind him, but he did hear Clint’s voice speaking in his ear as he ran forward. 

“We’ve got eyes on Stark and the armor! Hidden workshop, lower levels.” 

Steve hit his knees next to Tony, hands shaking as he reached towards the man he had called his. All the other words that were being spoken around him faded into the background. He couldn’t separate the appearance of Tony so full of life from the body that was lying on the ground, or had been lying on the ground. His shield slid from his hand, the grip on it no longer keeping it on his forearm, and it clattered to the ground, rocking back and forth until it stopped moving. He watched Clint and Natasha roll Tony out, trying to bring him back. There was so much blood left behind though…. And Steve shifted so that he was on the other side of the blood pool, swallowing past his tears that refused to fall. He still had to find Peter. There was still a sliver of hope that his son was okay.

It was times like this where his eidetic memory was both a blessing and a curse. He could still see Tony there, hand reaching towards where the armor was. With everyone else gone, the room was so quiet, he could hear the soft sniffling and whimper of someone else in the room. Steve felt numb, but he forced himself back to his feet, looking around for a small place that Peter could be hiding in. Reaching up, he wiped his eyes, still unable to find his voice, and looked around again. There were plenty of small spaces, but something made him look back to where the body had been… 

And then blue eyes moved to the armor. The armor stared at him, almost mocking him in its inability to protect Tony. Steve almost hated the armor now. What good had it done the inventor? 

_ “Fuck, JARVIS!” He called out again, but there was no reply from the British AI. He was frantic as he carried Peter down to the workshop. He wasn’t sure where the fuck the adoptoids had come from, but he didn’t have a suit ready to fight them off and Peter was his top priority. He had no way to get Steve a message and get him to come back, everything was jammed. Tony slammed his hand on the scanner, and it was a tense five seconds before the door wooshed open and he carried Peter inside, and set him down. “Go into the corner right now Peter.”  _

_ “Dad, I’m scared!”  _

_ Tony didn’t have a lot of time, but he took the few seconds he could spare to get down on one knee in front of Peter, cupping his cheeks. “I know Pete, I know you are. I am too. But I really need you to go into the corner while I work on securing this door okay? Can you do that for me? Be brave, just a little bit longer. Papa’s coming back, I promise. He’s gonna come rescue us, because that’s what he always does.”  _

_ Peter’s lip wobbled but he nodded and ran for the corner crawling under the table. Tony shoved tables and heavier equipment in front of the door, knowing it wasn’t going to last very long. He ran over to where Peter was and tugged him back into his arms. Peter was crying and he did his best to console him. He looked at his suit, knowing that it wouldn’t fit both of them. And he had a choice to make. He could get in the suit, and hope that Peter wouldn’t get hurt in the ensuing fight… or he could put Peter inside of it, and save his son.  _

_ “Okay pumpkin, you need to listen to me right now. You know how you always wanted a suit of your own?” _

_ Peter nodded.  _

_ “You’re going to borrow daddy’s. No matter what you hear, you gotta promise me not to make a sound okay? It’s going to be super hide and seek. Papa’s gonna find you, I promise.” He whispered. Tony reached up and opened the chest plate, setting Peter inside of the suit. “Daddy loves you so much Peter.”  _

_ Peter could tell something was going on but nodded, and sank further back into the ironman suit. “Okay daddy. I love you…. Please don’t leave me…”  _

_ “Not if I can help it pumpkin. Remember, not a sound.” He said before the chest plate closed as the door was blown wide open. _

Steve stepped up, hearing the soft whimpers coming from inside of the suit. For the first time since he had set foot in this room, he found his voice. “Armor override, Steven Grant Rogers, 34-44-54.”

The armor slowly opened up, and there was Peter, eyes puffy and red rimmed, looking up at Steve, absolutely terrified. “...Papa?” 

Steve nodded and leaned down, feeling Peter’s arms wrap around his neck tight and he lifted him out. “Papa… where is Dad?” He whispered, voice tired and wrecked from struggling not to cry. “It’s… It’s safe right?” Peter’s voice was muffled as he buried his face in Steve’s neck. 

“Yeah Pete, it’s safe. Dad’s… dad’s been taken to medical, big guy. You were so brave Peter, I’m so proud of you. I bet you listened to Dad the entire time didn’t you?” Steve whispered, rubbing a hand up and down Peter’s back, feeling the young boy nod against his neck. 

“Even when I was really scared… Dad said that you were going to come get us…. He was right… but he was outside the suit… I don’t know where he went…” Peter whimpered before he was crying in earnest. Steve kept Peter’s head tucked against his neck so that he couldn’t see any of the blood, though Steve could see some blood on Peter’s sweater. 

“Are you hurt anywhere Peter?” Steve asked, his grief hovering heavily on his shoulders, but he could fall apart later. For now he had to take care of Peter. He had to be strong right now for his son so that his son could know that everything was going to be okay. 

“N-no Pa-Pa. It’s Dad’s...He was carrying me when the-the-the-the robots sh-shot at us.” Peter managed to get out through his tears. Steve rubbed his back, and carried him up to the apartment in the tower he had shared with Tony and Peter. It was miraculously untouched and Steve thanked a god he no longer prayed to for small miracles. He sat down in the living room, holding Peter while the boy sobbed his heart out on Steve’s shoulder. Their apartment door opened with a soft woosh and Steve looked up, a part of him hopeful that Tony was going to walk in, yammering away about something Steve had no hope of understanding but it was Sam that stepped through, bringing with him a sense of dread. Steve put his finger to his lips glancing down at Peter. Sam nodded, before he quickly typed out the message on his phone and turned it towards Steve so that the man could read. 

_ I’m so sorry Steve… They did all they could. _

Steve swallowed hard and nodded, hearing the sobs petering out and glanced down at Peter who had passed out in the exhaustion from his ordeal, but was still crying in his sleep. Tears gathered in the soldier’s eyes and he tilted his head back, careful not to jostle Peter. He held up a finger to Sam before he stood up and moved Peter to the room he had shared with Tony and laid him down in the middle of the bed, getting him cleaned up softly, got him changed into pajamas before he tucked the boy in their sheets and left the door open just a little bit, so that he could hear Peter if he needed him. 

Stepping back out, he looked at Sam, the tears slowly falling down his cheeks until he could taste the saltiness of his tears. Sam didn’t even hesitate as he stepped forward, wrapping his arms around Steve’s shoulders and hugging him close. “It’s going to be okay Steve.” 

“Why didn’t I stay back? I should have been here…” Steve whispers, letting his voice end in a whimper as he clung to his friend. 

“And what would have happened if you had been here and both of you had died? Peter would be without both of his fathers, and then where would he be!?” Sam whispered back, gently coaxing Steve back to the living room and back down on the couch. He moved to the small kitchenette and got Steve some water, making sure he drank it back. 

“I know… I know that, but if I had been here I could have saved both of them. Sam… What am I going to do? Tony meant everything to me… How am I supposed to raise a child on my own!?” 

“Oh Steve, you’re not alone.” He looked up at the doorway where the others were standing, Natasha and Clint both stepping further in, Bruce not far behind them, Pepper, Happy, and the others of their Avengers family. Pepper sat down next to Steve on the couch, opposite from Sam, and both wrapped their arms around the soldier as he leaned forward and sobbed his heartache out. Natasha kneeled in front of him, and pressed their foreheads together, with Clint’s hand on Steve’s shoulder. Bruce sat down on their coffee table, and Happy and Scott hovered nearby. 

“Steve, it takes a village to raise a child. We’ll all help you when you need to just have some alone time. Don’t be afraid to lean on us okay?” Pepper’s voice was rough with tears and she rested her forehead against his shoulder. 

Steve’s sobs slowed and he nodded, finding another glass of water in his hands. He sat back, before he heard the little shuffling of feet as Peter wormed his way through everyone else and stood in front of Steve. “Papa I’m sorry….” He whispered. “I’m sorry I couldn’t save him… I wanted to…” Peter’s upper lip quivered but he was clinging to his teddy bear, hiding half his face behind it as he looked at Steve who without missing a beat gathered his son up in his arms and held him close. 

“You did everything just right Peter. You listened to Dad without questioning him. That was the right thing to do.” 

* * *

They say that time was supposed to lessen the pain of loss. Steve wasn’t sure that was true. It was certainly dulling it, but it wasn’t going. Steve felt like he was missing a part of himself everyday and it was getting harder and harder to ignore. Peter was growing up a quiet, reserved young boy. As much as Steve wanted to get Peter to sleep in his own bed, he just didn’t have the heart to separate himself from Peter when the boy clearly needed the comfort. 

It had been two years since the attack that had taken Tony away from them. Steve only went out for world ending missions, and he never left Peter alone at the Tower anymore. As much as he hated to admit it, and as much as he sometimes couldn’t stand the man he had found to watch Peter, he knew that out of everyone in his acquaintance, Wade Wilson was going to be one of the few people he could trust to protect Peter come hell or high water. 

[The Comic](https://twitter.com/tunastork/status/1331283179475406848)


End file.
